One of our patrolmen, on night shift, was checking the business houses in his district when he spotted a burglar inside an auto parts store at about the same time that the burglar spotted him. The immediate problem was to somehow cover the front door and the back door until backup could arrive. So our enterprising police officer simply turned on his red lights & siren and drove around and around the building just as fast as he could.
Later, when the burglar was asked why he didn’t make a run for it before reinforcements arrived, he said, “Are you kidding? That maniac might have run over me!”
In another incident, a ranch woman was fixing breakfast long before daylight when a home invader kicked in the kitchen door and made his entry. The woman just grabbed a big old coffee pot off the top of the stove and threw it in his face, hot coffee and all. The crook left so fast that he may have set the record for the all-time shortest home invasion.
The thing to remember is that crooks tend to visualize what is going to happen much like we have encouraged armed citizens to do. The only trouble is that the crook’s visualization tends to take the form of fantasy. They see themselves as super tough and they see you, the citizen, as standing there with your mouth open and your hands up.
We can often turn the tables on the criminal by doing the unexpected. Instead of freezing, we jump right in their face. We throw something at them. We shove furniture in their way. We run at them instead of away from them. In short we do anything that will throw them off balance and give us time to get our defensive firearm into action.
The real key is to not only do the unexpected, but to do it quickly. And don’t hesitate. It is a good idea to keep in mind that the crook has started the ball rolling, and it is OK for you to get as aggressive as you need to. “Cloud up and rain on him” is an old saying that seems particularly fitting. Just like the bobcat that jumped on the porcupine...he needs to realize that he has taken on more of a task than he ever expected. Think outside the box and turn his day into the worst one he’s ever had.
Be aware of your surroundings and all of the defensive tools that may be at hand. True personal defense comes from between the ears, not from the gun on the hip. Do the unexpected and wreck his day!
